Edward Smith, edward.smith@sierraclub.org
St. Louis, MO - In a federal court filing today, Ameren Missouri announced its intent to retire its Rush Island coal plant no later than March 2024 following Clean Air Act violations and a court order to add modern pollution controls. Ameren Missouri previously planned to retire Rush Island in 2039 according to the Integrated Resource Plan it filed with the Missouri Public Service Commission in 2020.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently upheld a lower court ruling that required air pollution controls while striking down the lower court ruling that Ameren must add pollution controls to its Labadie coal power plant in order to compensate for the years of excess pollution at Rush Island. The Department of Justice and Ameren Missouri each filed motions for rehearing, both of which were denied by the Court of Appeals.
The filing today signals that Ameren Missouri will move forward with retiring its Rush Island coal plant and will not appeal the Eighth Circuit decision to the Supreme Court. Ameren Missouri’s notice for retiring Rush Island can be found here.
Statement from Andy Knott, Interim Central Region Director for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign:
“Given the immense public health harms that Ameren Missouri chose to inflict on the region by operating Rush Island out of compliance with the Clean Air Act, CEO Marty Lyons and utility executives should work with the grid operator to retire the coal plant as soon as possible. The financial and health interests of Ameren’s customers are best served by the utility replacing any needed capacity with a combination of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and demand side response.
“In no way should Ameren consider replacing Rush Island with fracked natural gas, given skyrocketing fuel costs and the fact that methane, the primary component of natural gas, is a potent greenhouse gas. This is a major decision point for whether Ameren Missouri will act on climate, which it acknowledges is due to human activity, or whether it doubles down on fossil fuels in spite of the science it says it supports. To that end, Ameren Missouri executives should work vigorously to retire its coal fleet before 2030 in order to mitigate the worst impacts of our changing climate.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.